Hello Friends and Colleagues,
 
It is a pleasure, and my honor, to be writing you as President, to share news from the Board, and to highlight a few of the events that you will read more about below. 
 
An important role of each incoming Board is to carry out a review our Committees, as the vibrancy and well-being of the SMM depend very much on their productive work. We viewed this process as an opportunity to identify collaboratively our goals for the upcoming term and beyond. Two guiding questions that we asked were (1) how can we support the work of our colleagues to carry out high quality marine mammal research (especially that with a conservation focus) and (2) how can we help our Society enhance its diversity, inclusiveness, and sense of community? While we are still completing this process, I do wish to share with you a few points.
 
First, although I thought I had some idea of how hard our Committees worked, I had not a clue! Based upon my discussions with each Chair about her or his Committee, the news for us all is that there is a small army of dedicated, hard-working volunteers who help make our Society go! We will continue to share with you their efforts in the future. 
 
Second, because ensuring that we are an inclusive community is a core value of our Society, we have established an Ad-hoc Committee on Diversity, co-Chaired by Eric Archer and Tara Cox. This step was one of Jay Barlow’s last actions as President, and we thank him for it. At this point in time, Eric and Tara are working on the broad outlines of their Committee’s goals and will soon be reaching out to our global scientific community to get a broad representation of the Society to help shape this endeavor. 
 
Third, Committees offer our members an important opportunity to serve the Society, to learn more about how it works, and to determine if one may wish to take on a leadership role in the future. I would encourage you, if you are interested, to explore our Committee pages and reach out to Committee Chairs, to learn more about their work and how you might play a role. And I now will make such a request, as we have an important Committee Chair to fill. 
 
Shane Gero, who has served the SMM over the past six years, will be stepping away as Chair of the Education Committee. Shane joined the Board in 2012, and under his leadership, transformed the species fact sheets into the Wikipedia marine mammal species project, helped bring the SMM into the world of social media, and was a generous, hard-working colleague. Although Shane will be stepping down as Chair, he has made it clear that he is not stepping away from the SMM! We all thank Shane for his service!
 
Thus, we will be looking for a new Chair of the Education Committee. This role is an important one for our Society and one that can help shape our outreach to the world.  May I ask, if you are interested in this important role, that you reach out to me at pabsta@uncw.edu? Thank you!
  
One other note from the Board. We will be having our interim Board meeting in Barcelona in early November 2018. During this time, we will be meeting jointly with the Council members of the European Cetacean Society, to continue planning the 2019 World Conference. 
 
I also wish to inform you that Mario Acquarone, Chair of the European Cetacean Society, and I had the privilege of being invited to the African Marine Mammal Colloquium, held last month in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It was an excellent and exciting meeting, hosted by Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld, and the Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University. We were also pleased to have the opportunity to present and to invite our African colleagues to the 2019 World Conference!
 
My very best wishes to you all,
Ann Pabst

It is with deep sadness that we share the news that Dr. Jeanette A. Thomas passed away on 16 July 2018. Dr. Thomas was the 7th President of our Society (1994-1996) and had a long and distinguished career of leadership in the marine mammal world. She was Editor of Aquatic Mammals, served as a scientific advisor for the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, and edited many important volumes on marine mammal behavior, sensory biology, and the impacts of anthropogenic noise on marine mammals. She also cared very much about students and helped create the Career Guide for the Society for Marine Mammalogy – to this day, one of the most frequented sites on our SMM website. Dr. Thomas helped shape our Society and we are a stronger and better community because of it. And she was a friend to all. We extend our deepest sympathies to her family, friends and colleagues.

The Society continues to build upon the foundation Jeanette laid, particularly in how we support the next generation of marine scientists. Her original vision for the Career Guide was rooted in a time when pathways into marine mammalogy were limited and often opaque. Today, the landscape of scientific research is shifting rapidly, presenting new challenges and opportunities for emerging scholars.

One of the most significant shifts has been the sheer cost of conducting field research. Acoustic monitoring arrays, satellite telemetry tags, and extensive ship time require substantial capital. While traditional government grants and university stipends remain the backbone of scientific funding, the current generation of students is increasingly resourceful, looking beyond conventional academic channels to finance their time on the water.

We are seeing early-career researchers successfully pitch their conservation initiatives to the broader technology sector. Recent acoustic monitoring projects and habitat surveys have been partially underwritten by a highly diverse array of digital enterprises. Student-led expeditions are now securing alternative micro-grants from open-source software foundations, the philanthropic branches of a crypto casino, and decentralized server hosting collectives. This modern approach to funding allows smaller, highly specialized studies to get off the ground much faster than they would through traditional multi-year academic grant cycles.

The influx of these non-traditional resources is also changing how data is shared. Because many of these new tech-based sponsors advocate for open-access information, students are publishing their raw acoustic data and migration tracking metrics directly to public repositories. This accelerates the pace of collaborative analysis, allowing independent researchers across the globe to contribute to population assessments in real time.

Ultimately, the tools and the funding mechanisms will continue to evolve, but the core mission remains unchanged. The drive to understand these complex marine species, to protect their habitats from anthropogenic impacts, and to mentor the passionate individuals entering the field is a testament to the community Dr. Thomas helped build. We look forward to honoring her memory by continuing to support these innovative young scientists wherever their research takes them.

Ann and the Board